The 100-miler: Part 12 (1971-1973) Ron Bentley and Ted Corbitt

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By Davy Crockett

During the 1970s, the modern-era of ultrarunning was slowly increasing. The term “ultramarathon” (“ultra” for short) was introduced by legendary Ted Corbitt about 1957 and by the early 1970s it was being used more often to make the distinction with the public that athletes could run further than the marathon distance.

100-mile races were not yet widely prevalent and open to all, but the spark had been kindled to bring back the distance that many hundreds of runners had achieved before World War II. The shorter ultra-distance races including 50-miles were ever-increasing, including races such as the JFK 50 in Maryland, the Metropolitan 50 in New York City, London to Brighton in England, and the Comrades Marathon in South African. Many other ultradistance races were put on around the New York area by Ted Corbitt and various point-to-point ultras were raced throughout Great Britain.

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During this emerging 1970s modern era, some of the fastest all-time 100-mile accomplishments were achieved and they have been mostly forgotten. In 1972, an equestrian mountain-trail in the California Sierra named Western States was conquered by seven military veterans, sparking the notion to bring back mountain trail 100-milers that had ceased for decades.

Ron Bentley

In the Midlands region of England, emerged a tough ultrarunner who would take the 100-mile distance to new levels and influence British runners for generations. Ron Bentley (1930-2019) was born in the Midlands, near Birmingham, England. He grew up in large family, in very humble living conditions.

They lived in a two-bedroom home without electricity, where meals were cooked with a pressure stove heated by open fire. As a young boy, he remembered hearing his father tell running stories around the fire. He had been a professional road-runner and influenced his sons to also run. He also lived near British running great, Jack Holden (1907-2004) who left an early impression on him about running.

Bentley served in the British army starting in 1949 and participated in many sports with the servicemen including football, basketball and hockey. He did not do much running at first but did ran a race around a hockey field one day. After doing some training in the hills, he started to win cross-country races and his officers could see that he was naturally gifted to run. While serving, he was the overall champion in a Army Track and Field meet, winning middle-distance running events and the Pole Vault.

The Tipton Harriers

While home on leave, he watched Jack Holden race in the area. That motivated Bentley to train harder and he went on weekly long runs of about 10 miles. Once out of the service in 1951, he joined the Tipton Harriers, wanting to concentrate on long-distance running. He participated in many races but didn’t start racing the marathon until 1958 when he was 29. He placed third at the Midland Marathon at Baddesley with a time of 2:47:18. Bentley became one of the core leaders of Tipton’s cross-country and road running teams which developed into the most successful club in England. Ron’s voice could always be heard above all others shouting encouragement for his team.

Ben Nevis Race

Bentley ran a classic trail race in Scotland for many years, the “Ben Nevis Race.” It was only about 10 miles (depending on the route taken) but ran to the top of Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis (4,406 feet), and back down. It was said, “It is not an unusual sight to see exhausted runners carried off to the hospital.”

The Ben Nevis race began in 1895 and it became a regular organized event in 1937. “Due to the seriousness of the mountain environment, entry was restricted to those who had completed three category A hill races, and runners had to carry waterproofs, a hat, gloves and a whistle.”

Bentley’s Early Ultrarunning

During the early 1960s, members of the Tipton Harriers ventured into ultra-distances and started to complete in the classic London to Brighton race (52 miles). Bentley was eventually convinced to give it a try in 1964. It was a tough race for him but he finished in 23^rd with a time of 7:07:23 which helped Tipton take the team title for the race. In 1966 he improved his time to 6:28:32.

Bentley stepped away from running for a couple years to support his family with his job in scrap metal. He worked hard and was able to set up his own business in Oldbury. In 1968 he returned to ultrarunning and ran in the first year of the classic “Two Bridges” race (36 miles) (see episode 52) in Scotland, finishing fourth in 3:58:53 out of 32 starters. This road race became world-known and many of the greatest ultrarunners in the world would later come to compete in it. The race was named “Two Bridges” because it crossed two bridges over the Firth of Forth, west of Edinburgh.

In 1969, Bentley attempted to run his first 100-mile race. He ran in the historic 100-mile race held at Walton-on-Thames where the “ghost runner,” John Tarrant set the world record, followed by Dave Box and Ted Corbitt. (see episode 62). Bentley had never raced past 36 miles before. He had been working long hours, trying to save up to buy a house and really had not been training properly to compete well at 100 miles. Sure enough, he did not finish and explained that his “feet were gone.” His older brother Gordon, who also was an elite ultrarunner, did much better, finishing fourth with 14:38:07, about an hour after Corbitt.

In 1970, at the age of 39, Bentley won his first ultra, a 44-mile road point-to-point race from Exeter to Plymouth. It was one of six road races that stitched England together, linking smaller towns in fiercely contested annual events.

The Exeter race included 3,000 feet of climbing along the way. It was the 7^th year of this race, usually won each year by “The Ghost Runner,” John Tarrant. But Bentley broke the course record by about three minutes with his win. Tarrant experienced a disappointing slump during the race and did not finish. Alcohol had always been a part of Bentley’s training. He explained, “It’s what you did. The night before I won the Exeter-to-Plymouth, I had three pints of Whitbread and steak and chips at an Inn.”

1971 Century of Miles

Bentley’s older brother Gordon was also an elite ultrarunner. He had run in London to Brighton each year since 1965, always finishing in the top 15. In 1971, the Bentleys ran in a 100-mile relay along with their sons Ron, age 12, and Nicholas age 11. They were the only father-son relay teams among 100 competitors in the “Century of Miles” relay race that took place to celebrate the opening of the Tipton Sports Union’s new headquarters. The Duke of Edinburgh raised the starting flag and 64-year-old, British running legend, Jack Holden ran the first mile. The 100 runners ran around the track for about 12 hours. Former club members from all parts of the country as well as boys and girls took part. Several thousand people watched.

1971 Radox 100 Mile Race at Uxbridge

With a string of strong consistent performances Bentley attracted the attentions of the Road Runners Club (RRC) and he was invited to take part in the RRC Radox 100 Mile Track race held on October 23, 1971 at Uxbridge Sports Centre track. This race was part of a series of 100-mile races that were being held every two years in England.

With Bentley’s failure finishing the 100-miler two years earlier at Walton-on-Thames, he made sure he was ready for this second attempt. For many months he had been training 120 miles per week including back-to-back running days on weekends with four hours on Saturdays and five hours on Sundays. “If the Tipton Harriers clubhouse was locked when he got back, four pints of beer and three bottles of lemonade would be waiting for him in a bucket by the back door.”

Twelve runners were entered into the highly competitive 1971 100-miler including the “ghost runner,” John Tarrant, age 39, the former world record holder who was allowed to race in Britain. Phil Hampton (1935\-) of Great Britain who had recently broken the 50-mile world record on a track with a time of 5:01:01 was also in the field along with Bentley’s brother Gordon. The two brothers prepared the night before the race drinking pints of ale and eating stake and chips.

The Start

The next morning, just minutes before the start, Tarrant was making a last-minute bathroom stop and having a crisis of confidence. “In the toilet I tried to instill in myself the importance of the race, why I had more incentive than any other runner to win.” His family was there to support him and he promised himself to give it all he had. He made his way to the start with must seconds to go.

After the start, Ron and Gordon Bentley when out strong. After ten miles Tarrant had fallen back. “Tarrant wasn’t running, he was wallowing like a stricken ship, and after twenty miles he’d fallen six minutes behind the leading pack. Ahead of him he could see Ron Bentley running alongside his older brother Gordon. Tarrant was still struggling at 30 miles and was telling himself if he didn’t feel better after one more mile that he would drop out.” He said, “I was flogging my body unmercifully.”

The Second Half

Ron Bentley pushed ahead to lead the race after 50 miles and at mile 59, Tarrant was reduced to a walk and clocked a slow eighteen-minute mile. He slowed to a complete standstill. Tarrant’s brother, Victor, worked furiously on him, to try to revive him, as he raged about a mental lapse and losing control of himself.

Others were struggling too. Ron Bentley had a seventeen-mile lead over Tarrant at mile 60. He said of Tarrant, “I had seen him leave the track, but when he came back, he was flying. I just couldn’t believe the way he was running. One minute he’d been dying and the next he was lapping me and I was starting to lose my confidence.” Bentley broke the 100 km British record with a time of 7:29:07 but his lead over Tarrant was reduced to fourteen minutes at mile 70 and thirteen at mile 80.

Tarrant continued to push hard. At mile 90 the lead was six minutes and at mile 95, Bentley had only a two lap lead. “From dawn to dusk, for eleven appalling hours, he had floundered hopelessly behind the metronomic Ron Bentley. At last, as darkness hunched around them, he’d run his rival down.” The spectators were amazed at what they were watching. The race director, Eddie Gutteridge (1941-) recalled, “It was Tarrant’s greatest race. He was mortally ill. It moved you to be there, because he was not physically capable and yet his mental approach was magnificent.”

The Finish

But in the end, it was Bentley’s day. He found a finishing kick that broke Tarrant’s charge and he flew away to win in 12:37:55, fourteen minutes ahead of Tarrant. Gordon Bentley finished in an impressive third place in 13:14:17.

Tarrant finished in rough shape with blue lips and froth around his mouth. He sat covered in blankets, barely able to speak. Bentley said, “I knew he was very ill, but there was nothing we could do.”

Two weeks later Tarrent’s recovery was slow and he was still too crippled to run. But a few months later he was back nearly to his world-class form. But soon his health degraded and it was discovered that he had stomach cancer. Initial surgery helped and recovered enough to continue to run. But during 1974 his health slowly worsened and he lost significant weight. He died in South Africa on January 19, 1975 at the young age of 42.

Ken Young

Two runners played an important part in a 1972 100-mile race held in America. Ken Young (1942-2018) grew up in Pasadena, California and attended high school in Phoenix, Arizona. As a youth he loved running and studying math. In high school he ran two miles in 10:10. In college he quit the cross-country team after one year because of his heavy course load. But in the late 1960s, after reading an article about the benefits that running has on health, complete with numbers and statistics, it struck a chord with him and he started to run while attending Arizona State University.

Young ran his first marathon in 1969 at the National Junior AAU Championships in Redfield, Iowa. He finished in 3:21. He ran his first ultra in 1970, a 50-miler at the National AAU Championships in Rocklin California with a time of 6:20.

While working on his Ph.D at the University of Chicago, Young joined the school’s track club where he met Ted Haydon (1912-1985) who was twice an assistant coach on the USA Olympic team. He asked Young to help him with statistics for a race to introduce the idea of handicapping. That started Young’s lifelong computer work with runner data. He could compare results from various distances to determine who the faster runners were.

In 1971 Young, working as a meteorologist, began a daily running streak of at least one mile a day that lasted nearly 42 years. In 1972, Coach Haydon set up a race to see if Young could break an indoor world marathon record. He set the world record in Chicago of 2:41:29.

Darryl Beardall

Darryl Beardall (1936-) of Santa Rosa, California, started running at the age of 17. He had never run a step (on purpose) until in 1954 when his gym teacher at Santa Rosa High School told the boys to see how many times they could lap the track. He ran 48 laps, 12 miles, before he stopped.

Beardall ran on Brigham Young University’s track team during the 1950s where he finished 7^th in the national championship for the 10,000 meters. From his early twenties he consistently logged 120 training miles per week. He started competing in ultras at the age of 31 in 1967 and that year won the Pacific Association of the AAU 50-miler with 6:06:47. The next year he also won it in controversy with a time of 5:38:16 on a 5-mile road loop course at Sunset-Whitney Ranch in Rocklin, California. Skip Houk (1942-) actually won by 11 seconds but was later disqualified by the AAU because he didn’t display his bib number on his jersey, even though everyone knew who he was in the small race.

Beardall was also an elite marathoner and finished 23^rd at the 1968 US Olympic Marathon Trials. He improved his 50-mile personal best to 5:18:55 when he finished 3^rd in the National AAU 50-mile Championship in 1970, also at Rocklin, California.

The 1972 PAA 100 Mile Race

On March 11, 1972, both Young, age 30, and Beardall, age 35, competed in the Pacific Association AAU (PAA) 100-mile race held at Sacramento, California on a 3-mile road loop course during the annual Camellia Festival at the California Expo. Ten runners started at 6 a.m. Young and Beardall ran neck-to-neck for the first 33 miles until Beardall developed some respiratory problems. He did make somewhat of a recovery between 45 and 60 miles when he closed Young’s leading gap from 4l minutes to 11 minutes during that period. But Young won with an amazing time of 14:14:39. Beardall finished second in 15:38:38.

Others who finished included Ralph Paffenbarger Jr. (1922-2007) with 16:42:58, and Paul Reese (1917-2004) with 17:15:34. Six other runners did not finish due mainly to the high temperatures (75-80°) and humidity during the race. Dehydration was common to all who ran. Natalie Cullimore won the 1973 edition of this 100-miler and in 1974, there were no finishers.

Young died in 2018 with 141,000 life-time miles. In 2020, Beardall was 84 years old and had run more than 300,000 life-time miles. He was still doing some running despite a hip replacement and lived in Santa Rosa, California.

100×100-mile Relay Record

On March 26, 1972, a unique 100-mile relay race was held in West Long Branch, New Jersey. The Shore Athletic Club distance runners pooled their talents to chalk up what they claimed to be 100-mile relay world record. For this relay, 100 different runners had to each run one mile, for a total of 100 miles. A year earlier on September 19, 1971, a Swedish All-Star team at Uppsala, Sweden had lowered the record to 8:30:06, averaging 5:06 for each of their miles. The New Jersey team ran in cold conditions and finished in 8:18:46, averaging an amazing 4:58:16 per mile. In 1973, the team did it again, this time averaging 4:53 miles for a total of 100-mile time 8:09:42 on Monmouth College track, and then in 1974 ran in 8:06:14.8

The Baltimore Road Runners Club lowered the record on May 17, 1981 with a time of 7:53:52.1 on Towson State track. This record was held for 16 years. The average time was 4:44.1 per mile.

Derek Kay, the first to break 12 hours for 100 miles

Derek Kay was born in 1932 and was from South Africa. He was a member of the Savages Athletic Club in Durban and began his running career in 1969 when he ran Comrades Marathon (54 miles) for the first time and finished in a distant 355^th place. He would go on to finish Comrades a total of 22 times.

On October 6, 1972, the Durban 100 Miles Track Race was again held in South Africa. It had been held every two years since 1964 and this was its 5^th year. Kay shocked the world when at age 39 he had the race of his life and reached 100 miles in a world record time of 11:56:56 breaking Dave Box’s 1970 world record on the same track by about 18 minutes. Kay was the first person in history to break 12 hours. That was Kay’s only 100-mile finish, but he went on to run ultras until 1991 at the age of 58. In 2014, Kay was living in Australia.

1972 Western States 100-mile March

In 1972, an annual 100-mile endurance horse race was held in the California Sierra from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California with 169 horses and riders. This race was receiving international attention. Many endurance horse races were held across America, but the Western States Trail Ride (or Tevis Cup), established in 1955, was becoming most well-known because of the tough mountain course. Animal right groups also brought attention to the event because of the occasional horse deaths that took place.

In the spring of 1972, at Fort Riley, Kansas, Captain Joseph McCarthy was on an adventure team consisting of many Vietnam veterans still in the service. His wife had ridden in the famed race a few years earlier and he came up with the idea to have members of his adventure team try to be the first to cover the Western States course on foot instead of on a horse.

The Fort Riley commander contacted Wendell Robie (1895-1984), the Western States Ride founder, to ask permission to march a team during the upcoming ride. Robie was enthusiastic about the idea. Plans were made and about 30 soldiers were bussed out to California. Twenty would march and ten others would crew.

To get a head start on the horses, the soldiers started the day before, on July 28, 1972, hoping to finish in less than 48 hours. After the first 2,500-foot climb to Emigrant Pass, it was easy to see that if they all stayed together, they would never finish, so they broke up into teams of three. Each team could go at their own pace and it developed into a 100-mile race between the men.

These unusual 100-miler athletes wore fatigues, boots, and carried canteens. At each ride checkpoint, they were crewed and fed Meals Ready to Eat (MRES). The soldiers struggled and certainly were not ready for the altitude, heat, and climbs. By the afternoon of the second day, the lead horses and riders caught up to the remaining soldiers. Most of the soldiers dropped out along the way but seven successfully marched all the way to the finish at Auburn. Six finished with a time of 44:54 and another soldier finished in 46:49.

At the awards banquet at Auburn, California, that Sunday evening, the finishing soldiers were presented many awards, including a trophy for the “first finishers on foot” prepared by the race’s founder, Wendell Robie. The Fort Riley Post wrote, “This was the first time the trail had been competitively traveled on foot with a time factor involved.”

The idea for a future Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run had been kindled by this historic 1972 march which received significant coverage in the Auburn newspaper. These were the individuals who were the first to cover the Western States 100 course on foot during the endurance ride: Larry M. Hall, Michael Paduano (1952-2012), Gregory Belgarde (1952-1985), Kenneth Kruzel (1949-), David E. Lenau (1950-), Jon Johanson, and Michael Savage. Revisionist history would later incorrectly claim that a horse endurance rider, Gordy Ainsleigh, was the first to cover the course on foot in 1974 and gave him all the credit. Ainsleigh witnessed the soldier’s march. For much more details see: “Western States 100 on Foot: The Forgotten First Finishers.”

1973 Walton-on-Thames 24 Hour Race

At the age of 42, in 1973, Ron Bentley struggled with his running because he had an accident with a nail going through his foot when he jumped off some scaffolding. He went three weeks without any running and was unable to finish at Two Bridges in August. But after running a personal best at London to Brighton in September, he set his sights on running at the Walton-on-Thames 24 Hours track race in November 1973.

To prepare, he practiced with his brother, Gordon, running through the night. They secretly headed down to the track at Tipton and began a run at 11:30 p.m. They experimented eating every half hour, testing various foods and settled on hot soup. “Running through the night, they used this time getting used to the mental anxieties that creep in when sounds are magnified and aches and pains seem more acute. Gordon stopped at 6:00 a.m. with Ron carrying on adding another hour for good measure. He reckoned he covered about 77 miles.” During the weeks leading up to the 24-hour race, Bentley ran 150-mile weeks. During the last week he felt ready, both mentally and physically.

Wally Hayward of South Africa still held the track 24-hour world record of 159 miles, set in 1953 at Motspur Park (see episode 61). But little did they know, on October 23, 1972, George Perdon of Australia reached 164.9 miles in 24 hours at Albert Park in Melbourne during an uncertified road race, going four more miles than Hayward.

Pre-Race

The focus of the 1973 Walton-on-Thames race was to break Hayward’s 159-mile track world record. The RRC specifically wanted the record to come home to England. The cinder track was 400 meters. Tents were set up in the in-field for the officials.

Other tents were pitch by the crews of the runners. They were made of heavy canvas and offset to give officials a clear view of the runners. Track direction was always counter-clockwise. Hurdles were put out to display the mileage for each runner.

Sixteen runners entered, but John Tarrant had to withdraw because of his serious battle with cancer. Joe Keating (1948-), age 27, was the pre-race favorite because of his recent win at London to Brighton.

Ted Corbitt enters

America’s Ted Corbitt entered after being invited. At age 53, he knew he was nearing the end of his competitive running career. But he felt he had to run it because this would probably be his last chance to run in such an ultimate challenge. He had four months to prepare and quickly increased his mileage from 65 to 220 miles per week. He ran 20 miles to work, 20 miles home each day. But the strain was too huge and he soon had terrible shin-splints. Still, he managed to run 828 miles in July, 816 in August, with 740 and 696 in September and October. On September 23^rd, he attempted a test 100-mile run but quit at mile 70 with bad blisters. He tried again on October 14^th and again failed with blisters. Ten days before the race he tried a third time and successfully reached 101 miles in 22 hours. It went very well and he never felt tired. He was ready.

Corbitt had a very long trip to England, grounded in Germany because the British airports were completely fogged over. But he finally arrived. Because the start wasn’t until 6 p.m., he did his best to rest during the day for the hours before the race. Outward he was calm, but inside he was in turmoil.

His pre-race bio read: “Ted Corbitt (aged 53), a respected physiotherapist in New York, added an international flavour to the proceedings. He pioneered ultra distance running in the USA being a founder of the Road Runner’s Club of America based on the model established by the RRC in the UK. He is recorded as having completed 171 ultra distance & marathons since 1951. He had represented the USA in the Helsinki Olympics over the marathon distance. In terms of experience Ted was possibly the best equipped.”

John Jay Chodes (1939-) served as Corbitt’s crew chief and would use an hour-by-hour planned schedule for Corbitt’s fuel. He wrote about the race setup.

“We set up tents along the back-straight until the track resembled an army bivouac area. Each tent contained a bed in case a runner was so exhausted that he needed a complete rest and a portable stove for brewing tea and actual hot meals. In front of the tents were littered bottles and cans filled with home-made food and drink preparations. There was also a medical tent. The timer’s tent dominated the front straight. It was large accommodating 15 timers, one for each competitor. This tent glowed yellow-green under the harsh lights of several Coleman lanterns.”

The start

Before the start, the fifteen runners gathered together in a small dressing room where they joked, laughed and seemed totally relaxed. Bentley sat in the middle of the room and dominated the proceedings with his jokes and rough humor. Keating sat in a corner giggling. The casual pre-race atmosphere calmed Corbitt’s jitters.

The runners were called to the track at 5:50 p.m. and Corbitt joked, “How are you supposed to warm up for a 24-hour run?” The weather was cool and wet and the command “Go!” was shouted. Gordon Bentley shot into the lead at 6:15-mile pace followed by Ron Bentley and Keating who were chatting. Corbitt was content to run near the rear.

After three hours, Gordon Bentley had nearly reached 25 miles, with Ron a half mile back, and Corbitt two miles back. During the fourth hour one runner threw up repeatedly and another was seen badly limping. Corbitt stopped for a meal of a hard-boiled egg, and a cup of orange and pineapple juice. Bentley fed on soup, rice pudding and cups of tea. His crew fed on a bottle of whisky.

Corbitt soon discovered that a blister had appeared on his heel and he stopped in the medical tent for two minutes as they quickly taped it. The problem was solved. Ron Bentley took the lead from his brother during the fifth hour. Corbitt started to gain on the leaders but hamstring pain grew alarmingly.

The midnight hour was described as, “The silence of the track was ghostly. The only regular noises were the padding paces of the runners as they wove their way through the dark night.” After six hours, Ron Bentley led and hit 50 miles at 6:08:11, two minutes behind the world record pace. Corbitt was 41 minutes behind in 4^th place. Half of the runners were struggling badly including Keating and Gordon Bentley.

By the ninth hour, Bentley had a five mile lead and was seen “threading his way through the traffic jam of walking, limping, dog-trotting men.” He was in command and seemed to be a machine.

The Second Half

At the twelve-hour mark, Bentley reached 92 miles and Corbitt was in second place with 81 miles. Bentley reached 100 mile in 13:09:52 and unlike Hayward, who years before took a 30-minute rest, Bentley chose to continue. Corbitt was 12 miles behind struggling with hamstring pain. His crew would stroke his legs with a hard hairbrush. They tried pushing his knees toward his chest but the pain was excruciating. At 15:22, Corbitt finally reached 100 miles. His overall goal had been to reach 150 miles, but soon he realized that would be impossible.

At 18 hours, Corbitt mentally gave up. He did not walk off the track, but he stopped the constant struggling. Keating reached 100 miles and quit. Bentley continued strong, uncatchable, but Corbitt’s second place lead started to diminish. His stride degenerated into “a tottering lurch.” John Chodes paced alongside trying to keep him from walking and gave him fluids.

During the 20^th hour, the track became flooded with two inches of water from a torrential downpour. Runners became chilled to the bone as they slogged through the muddy water. Helpers tried to sweep the water off the track.

Bentley recalled, “That’s when the real battle started. I’d got a pull in my right thigh, the left foot was painful and I was slowing. I tried to convince myself I could still break the record even if I had to walk it, and every lap was one less to do after all. I slowly got on terms again.”

A British masseur took Ted into the dry dressing room and tried to bring life to his thighs. He bundled up in a dry sweater and headed out again as the rain finally stopped.

The Finish

During the afternoon the stands were filled with cheering spectators. An announcer continually counted down Bentley’s laps which greatly annoyed him. He pled, “Tell them to stop going on about the record and I will smash it for them.” (with a few swear words added.)

At 22 hours, 4 p.m., it was dark. “The stadium lights cast eerie reflections on the pools of water. The scene deteriorated into shambles. The runners were mud-drenched. Then a miracle occurred. As the runners conceived the end of the run, they began moving faster and faster. But Bentley’s pace deteriorated as his leg muscles gave way. He started walking some laps. The world record seemed to be slipping way.” He soon broke the British record of 154.7 miles. He had about two hours to cover five miles and break Hayward’s record.

Bentley broke Hayward’s record of 159 miles with one hour to go. “Bentley was engulfed by old friends, well-wishers and fatigue. Handshakes delivered and cheering all round.” He then stopped, wrapped himself in a blanket and then limped the rest of the hour, walking with his wife. He later explained, “I was sorry not to have put more miles on to it, but I was mentally and physically drained. Once I’d lost my concentration I was finished, I never knew how I got round the track for another 50 minutes.”

The remaining battle was for second place. Corbitt had held it for 13 hours but with 30 minutes to go, Peter Hart (1938-) was within two laps of him. “The track was a madhouse. Fans and handlers clogged the track, making an obstacle course for the runners.” Corbitt’s crew pled with him to go faster, but it was useless. He had nothing left and with 20 minutes to go, Hart passed Corbitt. Then the gun was fired and the nightmare was over for Corbitt.

Bentley reached 161.3 miles, and new world track 24-hour record. Hart reached 136.4 miles, and Corbitt, 134.6. Eleven out of the fifteen starters remained at the end. Corbitt was carried off like a “rag doll” to a hot tub where he and other runners lay for a half hour. He was then lifted out, dressed and driven to the place he was staying. He later said, “That was my most disappointing result. Maybe I waited too late in life. Maybe it was just the accumulation of stress.”

Bentley on the other hand was surrounded by microphones and TV cameras as interviews were conducted on the track. A wreath was draped around his neck. When asked what he wanted, he replied, “A pint of beer.” He said, “It’s absolutely marvelous. I always felt I could do it and I never thought I would drop out.” During the race he consumed 2.5 gallons of his special energy potion, a half gallon of tea, and many chocolate bars. He was weighed at the medical tent and had lost nearly 13 pounds during the race, or 8% of his weight.

One observer summed up the event this way. “If ever a man deserved to crown a career with such glory that man was Ron Bentley. To my mind anything he achieves in the future can never surpass his Walton effort. Although Ron took the main honors, I will always remember the day for the last few painful hours of Ted Corbitt’s run which typified the courage of these men.”

“Those that had run knew the part they had played in a momentous event. Those that witnessed it were left marked by the resolute nature and personal performance of each of the competitors. Goodbyes were eventually exchanged but the ‘unspoken’ probably told more as each one their bid their personal farewell.”

Ron Bentley died in 2019 at the age of 88.

The parts of this 100-mile series:

Sources:

Sports Argus (England), Aug 27, 1960
Bill Jones, The Ghost Runner: The Epic Journey of the Man They Couldn’t Stop
Birmingham Daily Post (England), June 3,5, 1971, Nov 5, 1973
The San Francisco Examiner (California), Mar 12, 1972
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California), Mar 13, 1972
The Sacramento Bee (California), Mar 12,13, 1972
Ron Bentley Recollections & Memories
“Western States 100 on Foot: The Forgotten First Finishers.”
“40 Year on: Ron Bentley and the 24 Hour World Record” 4 parts
John Chodes, “Corbitt: The Story of Ted Corbitt, Long Distance Runner”
Daily Mirror (England), Nov 6, 1973
Tipton Harriers
Darryl Beardall
Northern California Running Review, Feb, Mar 1972

65: The 100-miler: Part 12 (1971-1973) Ron Bentley and Ted Corbitt

By Davy Crockett

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